Gerry Forbes: Downtown hotel gleaming after makeover

A peek inside a revamped room at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Calgary.Supplied

There’s been a lot of doom and gloom stories about Alberta lately — pipelines still not underway, wheat banned in South Korea and Japan, tariffs all over the place and the big Trump versus Trudeau showdown.

One of the bright sports for Alberta has been tourism and it continues to be a great story with Banff and Canmore having their best years in decades, along with the residual spilling off here in Calgary.

Calgary hotels were full for the petroleum show and the Calgary Stampede is shaping up to be one of the best in the last 10 years as well, with hotels being booked at a record rate.

One of the major players here in town, the Hyatt Regency, just completed a major change with an extensive renovation of its 355 rooms and executive level Regency Club Lounge.

General manager Amy Johnson was pleased to announce what the facility describes as an elevated level of comfort and luxury, compared to when the hotel opened back in 2000.

The new rooms feature Caesarstone counter surfaces, smart mirrors, full-sized ceramic wall tiles in tubs and showers, large workstations and a 65-inch high definition television sets.

The high-end Regency Club has a new open and inviting space to eat, relax and gather for breakfast, snacks and beverages. The club is surrounded in wood-textured cabinetry and stone countertops, with huge windows and views of the city and surrounding mountains.

They also have a quiet zone to allow guests to have private dining and a lounge experience, with soft accent lighting and a luxurious herringbone wood tile motif, and an onyx dining table with private 55-inch television and fireplace.

LED lighting has been added to all guestrooms and common areas, to reduce energy consumption by 50 percent (they’ll save on that nasty carbon tax!) and water is now filtered from the taps, allowing guests to do away with plastic-bottled water.

The hotel’s restaurants the Sandstone and Thompson’s, offer a range of local classic and contemporary dishes inspired by the Alberta region and made with locally supplied beef and vegetables.

The hotel also offers an amazing spa, rated as one of the top 50 in Canada, and when it’s work time it has 33,000 sq. ft. of meeting space right along the CTrain line for easy access.

The hotel is also connected to the Telus Convention Centre for larger gatherings and has underground parking and security 24/7.

They are just polishing the handrails and putting on the finishing touches and invite all Calgarians to come and take a look at the refurbished gem that is the Calgary Hyatt Regency.

The hotel is located at 700 Centre Street South in downtown Calgary, a very short stroll to Stephen Avenue Mall and other downtown attractions.

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